Nathania Zevi

The Monti government has introduced a new tax, called IMU, better known as property tax, aimed at increasing revenue and providing better economic conditions for the country.

IMU, an acronym that stands for Imposta Municipale Unica, to the English this means Local Property Tax, has been introduced to help lowering the price of rents through the taxation of vacant apartments.

IMU is the tax that all real estate properties owners are supposed to pay in Italy, only religious buildings are exempt. This tax has replaced the former ICI tax on what in Italy is called "the first home " ( main residence), which Berlusconi government had eliminated .

The tax calculation is based on a percentage of the value of each property, and it will be collected by the municipalities where the properties are located, starting on Monday June 18th.

Part of the tax will go to the national government.

To calculate the IMU tax , you need to take into account that in Italy each property has a cadastral rental value reported in the public deed of the property purchase.

An increase on the cadastral value by 5 percent has to be added. The result then has to be multiplied by a coefficient that changes depending on the type of the property.

On that tax base you will also have to add a rate that ranges from 0,4 percent to 0,76 percent for your main residence ( the one where owners live ) but in some cases the rate can reach 1,06 percent.

There is also a 200-euro deduction on the IMU tax for main residences, plus an extra deduction of 50 euro per child under 26 years residing in the same house.